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Jerry Lewis and the MDA telethon

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For the first time in 45 years, Jerry Lewis was not pleading for donations in front of a camera on Labor Day weekend, after he was abruptly dismissed as the host of the Muscular Dystrophy Assn.'s telethon, an event that drew attention to the childhood disease and that in its heyday was an annual television highlight. At the height of its popularity, the telethon featured performances from show business luminaries, including Sammy Davis Jr., Liberace, the Supremes, Johnny Cash and Frank Sinatra. Above, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra with Lewis at the 1976 telethon. Photos